It Never Remains The Same
by MaraBella15
Summary: If he had been told a year ago that he would find himself in the middle of nowhere, dragging his most hated potions professor through the mud towards safety he would have laughed. Like hell he would risk himself over the snarky git, and yet here he was feeling absolutely terrified that the man he held was barely clinging "Merlin please Snape...please don't die' Rated M to be safe.


**_Authors Note: This is my first time writing a Harry Potter Fan Fiction so please enjoy constructive criticism is welcome. Haters will be ignored! If anyone spots any spelling mistakes please let me know spell check only does so much! :) I own nothing that belongs to JK Rowling! I just had this idea brewing for awhile! Thank You and Enjoy!_**

 _If he had been told a year ago that he would find himself in the middle of nowhere, dragging his most hated potions professor through the mud towards safety he would have laughed. Like hell he would risk himself over the snarky git, and yet here he was feeling absolutely terrified that the man he held was barely clinging onto life. He could feel the rain hitting his thin frame like chilled daggers, and he couldn't suppress the constant trembling that made him shake all over. Harry had no idea how they were going to find shelter. The storm intensified even more, and he was running out of time. He was left with no choice, he had to get Snape out of the rain._

 _The port key they used dropped them in an unknown location so he had no idea if they were still in England or where the safe house was even located. Severus was out cold and useless in helping. They could be anywhere in the world right now, and the thought was almost overwhelming. The sound of the sharp crackling of lightning striking above them hitting a tree not far from where they were on the ground. In his arms, Severus groaned in agony. 'Focus damn it! The shelter he needs shelter!' He blinked and peered through the thick sheets of rain that fell. In the distance, He could just about spot a rather large log that was not too terribly far from where it was near a large group of trees. It was hollowed in the middle just enough that it could probably fit one of them inside. he knew the rain would not be letting up anytime soon so he decided that the log was his professor's best chance of survival at this point. He himself would not fit, but his professor's life was the one in danger at the moment._

 _Summoning what little strength he had left he half dragged his professor the rest of the way to the log. The steps through the thick mud was slippery, and his feet sunk causing him to nearly fall several times. the potions master wasn't as a light of a man as he looked, and the weight of him had Harry groaning in exhaustion his muscles feeling strained. The thick tufts of grass tore at his exposed arms as he walked. His school cloak he wrapped around the other in an attempt to keep him warm in the cold rain. After what felt like forever they reached the 'shelter'. Carefully Harry pushed the injured wizard did his best to clean the mud off the wound running across Snape's chest. The large gash still oozed blood even if it was tightly wrapped in the torn fabric from his jumper. He could feel his stomach drop as the other gave a harsh shuddering breath, and he tightened the makeshift bandage he made. Hoping to prevent Severus from bleeding out completely._

 _'Merlin please Snape...please don't die!' he may not exactly like the man, but he didn't want him to die...not like this. Being scared would have been the understatement of the century of how he was feeling after all that has happened in the last 48 hours. All he could do was wait out the rain till morning. For now, he just curled up against the opening of the log in a rather sad attempt to shield himself from the cold the rain brought. He only had on his trainers, jeans and a thin undershirt on that wasn't enough to keep him warm. The sky above them was darker than it had ever been at Hogwarts and he never felt more alone. It took hours before the rain slowed to a slow drizzle, and he found himself unable to keep his heavy eyes open any longer. His exhaustion finally overcame him and he fell into an uncomfortable sleep. His eyelashes resting against his cold pale dreams restless as the sky began to lighten with the new morning._

 **Number 4 privet drive, Little Whinging. 48 hours before…..**

 _'Boy..go mow the bloody grass it's nearly higher than the sidewalk!'_ came Vernon Dursley's gruff shout from the living room. There was a heatwave and every resident in little whinging was either at home enjoying the sweet relief of indoor air conditioning along side cool refreshments, or at the local pool. Everyone but Harry Potter that is. The Dursley's had yet again banned him from entering the house until the lawn was manicured to the utmost perfection. The young teen could only roll his green eyes at the sight of the fat walrus of a man lounging in front of the television with his stiff faced wife fanning herself while she made lemonade that was much too sweet. Dudley their son was gone for the day with his punk friends at the local pool.

Harry cast a longing sigh at the cold lemonade his aunt was making before making his way towards the shed. He then lugged out the heavy lawn mower to begin cutting the grass. He was cutting the withered lawn that was supposedly 'almost higher than the sidewalk' and let out a humorless laugh at the ridiculousness of the notion. The grass looked as withered as he did in the sun, and looked like it had not grown in a long while. There was absolutely no point in cutting it, but here he was cutting the lawn like some idiot risking heat stroke.

The rays were brutal on his bare back, but he could only manage the irritation it caused as he always had to do. He was used to the labor and harsh conditions that his relatives put him to work in. He hardly batted an eye at the numerous and sometimes ridiculous chores he did now. The red blistering skin forming in his exposed arms was nothing that he couldn't stand. The dehydration was challenging, but he could sneak water from the water hose by the shed if he was lucky. It was the beating that would follow if he was unable to finish his chores that had him always a little on edge. The beatings were the only thing that he had a hard time bouncing back from. Sometimes the injuries he got from them made his work harder to finish and risked another beating on his already battered body. He gave a grunt and shoved the lawnmower to mow the lawn faster. One of his hands coming up to wipe the sweat that dripped from his brow. He finally finished the lawn, and after stowing mower way in the shed, he took a long drink from the hose. It was a sweltering day, and he was sure the heat wouldn't let up till late that evening.

The cool liquid felt amazing on his chapped lips as he drank till his empty stomach filled almost to the bursting point. The feeling of fullness was enough to make the normal hunger pangs subside for the moment. The only food he had been able to get had been from the bin or the scraps from their plates after dinner if he was lucky enough to sneak them. The soggy bread and old milk that his aunt occasionally gave him with a handful of random vitamin pills was hardly enough to sustain a growing boy. Just thinking of how he was going to raid the bin later made his eyes sting a bit from disgust, but he swallowed back the feeling. Since starting school he had finally realized how disgusting he was to have eaten garbage, and even now the shame filled him every time he had to resort to it. He just shook the unpleasant thoughts away and ran a hand through his sweaty hair that hung low enough to cover his eyes. He almost felt relaxed in that moment before a sharp pain in his stomach had him doubling over in agony. He could feel the cool water that had filled his gut come rushing out painfully as he vomited it onto the ground and fell forward clutching his abdomen.

 _"Dad! The freak was drinking from the water hose again!"_ Harry cursed himself internally for not looking at his surroundings before getting a drink. Dudley apparently came home early from the pool and saw him by the hose and decided to sucker punch his thin cousin. The overweight son of the Dursleys sneered at him from above with a look of disgust as Harry scrambled to get up, covered in his own sick and dirt. Feeling angry Harry could only glare at his fat sadistic cousin, but before he could say anything to him the back door slammed open as Uncle Vernon stomped out looking purple in the face from the sight of the other wet and muddy. _" Boy, no one told you that you could laze about. Drinking **our** water without a good hard day's labor is water that is not earned! And **YOU** do not steal from me **BOY**!"_ Vernon was practically spitting on him by how loud he was yelling, but as soon as Harry wiped the disgusting spit that had landed on him off he realized his mistake. Vernon got even more purple in the face if that was even possible. Dudley was looking at him with a satisfied smile at what he knew was going to happen.

 _"How dare you!...disrespectful...Bloody no good piece of filth! Go inside, and when I'm thru with you there will be hell to pay boy!"_ Harry seeing the malicious fury in the beady eyes of the man made him run inside without hesitation. His heart was beating in his chest a mile a minute. He saw the man in a fit of rage before but not like this. Never had the man actually told him to wait for punishment. Usually, the punishment was delivered immediately if it was just them with no company. He had just reached the top step of the stairs when a hand shot out from behind him and yanked him backward. His eyes widened as his body was thrown off balance and he tumbled down the staircase before landing in an unnatural heap. The side of his head smacking the floor hard enough to make him see body aching all over from the brutal fall.

 _"How dare you! No...you've lost your privileges to the room...you ungrateful boy!"_ Shrieked petunia. He winced as her shrill voice penetrated his ringing ears. Painfully he crawled to the cupboard that he knew all too well. His teen body fitting too easily onto the small cot that lay inside. The door shortly after slammed shut and was bolted from the outside. _"A week without food and water should teach the freak some respect!"_ Vernon said satisfied with the boy's painful fall before returning to his perch in front of the television. Dudley who witnessed the scene looked absolutely gleeful to see the boy locked away where **'freaks'** like him belonged and took a large sip from a water bottle that he had in front of the small opening he knew was on the cupboard door. "Thirsty ?" The boy asked mocking him. Dudley filled his fat cheeks with water before spitting at the door. Feeling satisfied himself with his 'kind' gesture, he too went and joined his father in front of the television. Both of them looking like two brainwashed elephants watching their shows. Harry didn't move on the cot. He only groaned in pain quietly with his eyes pinched shut. His head throbbed and throbbed.

While the men were engrossed in the television program petunia just stared at the door where the boy lay behind. In her clenched hand where several of the long black hairs she had ripped out when she yanked him back. Her face was tight with an unreadable expression. She hated the boy that was known from the very start. She never wanted him to be part of her perfect family. She had even been tempted to leave the baby to freeze outside on that cold October night. The infant Potter on her doorstep was already turning a little blue before she had taken him inside. She had her Diddydumbs and didn't need the child of her freak sister to ruin her perfect home. Petunia never even batted an eye at the beatings the boy had endured over the years, but she had never actually caused any of it physically. She had yelled, and cursed the boy, but never hurt him more than words. Hurting him physically was something she had never done. She had actually grabbed his hair and saw him lose balance. After he fell she actually was shocked with herself. Stiffly she walked over to the kitchen sink and dropped the hairs down the drain before scrubbing her hands almost raw.

She scrubbed and scrubbed but she could still feel his hair being ripped out in her unforgiving grip. Drying her hands on a towel she leaned against the counter to think. The Uneasy feeling she had now was not something she enjoyed at all. Before she even realized what she was doing she had gone into the kitchen, and grabbed a bottle of pain pills along with a small bottle of water and five pieces of old bread. Quickly, and quietly she opened the cupboard door and tossed all the items inside onto the shocked boy before shutting the door and locking it again. _"Take those, and when night comes I will let you out, then I want you to leave...!"_ Stunned green eyes that so reminded her of her late sister looked at her in wonder, and the uneasy feeling she had felt had grown worse. _"Do you understand me, boy!"_ She whispered fiercely. Once she got a nod from him in understanding she left him until nightfall. The uneasy feeling not quite leaving her. As she went to sit next to her husband and son. Her eyes occasionally glancing at the cupboard under the stairs. Her hand stroking her son's tightly cut hair in her hands. The feeling of the strands made her nauseous.

 **Night…**

Harry was in utter disbelief. His Aunt had never shown an ounce of mercy since he's known her, and yet she had given him food, water, and medicine all in one day. He had to actually pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He didn't know what came over her to actually want to help him leave, but he didn't question it. Maybe the woman actually had a heart in her scrawny body.

True to her word at midnight she came down in her night dress and quickly opened the lock to let him out. Her face rigid as she quickly shoved his trunk and wand into his arms. And shockingly enough his photo album that he had hidden under the floorboards upstairs. He didn't even know how she knew it was there, but he felt a swell of gratitude.

"Here's some money boy," She said shoving some crumpled bills into his hand, and a loaf of bread. "Take it and go...! I'm telling Vernon you stole this boy...now go!". The dim moonlight that came from the window illuminated his aunt, and he felt like he was seeing her for the first time. Everything about her was thin, thin and withered like the plants outside from the hot day. She was not even close to being as beautiful as her sister had been, but the harshness of her face suited her. The expressions he wore showed no kindness as usual, but it was in her eyes that he saw a strange look he would most likely never understand. Quickly he thanked her and made his way to the door. He did not want to stay too long in case she changed her mind. As soon as he stepped out the front door he heard it click shut and lock behind him. Turning back now was not an option he decided as he took a deep breath of the cool night air. He could not return. If he did he would pay dearly at the hands of his uncle. He didn't even care if he was kicked out at 14. Uncle Vernon's wrath had no limits if he returned he was not sure he would leave in one piece. Without looking back he made his way down the street. The wheels of his trunk the only sound against the asphalt. Petunia on the other hand quietly went upstairs and laid next to her unaware husband. The uneasiness she felt finally leaving.

 **Please Like/Review if you would like me to keep on writing!** **As a side note, I'm also looking for a beta reader so if anyone is interested message me, with reference from any previous stories you may have beta'd.**


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